> >> 2) In Greek literature, the overwhelming sin is hubris, excessive
> > pride.
> >> Is there an equivalent sin that the Orlanthi always have to guard
> > themselves
> >> against? Cowardice, perhaps?
> > 'Literature' is the key term here. That's five steps down the road from
> > myth.
> Myth is a form of oral literature.
Oral literature is a form of oxymoron. ;-) The mere fact of being written down is one 'step' on the road, but there's a couple before and a couple after, before you have anything resembling 'literature' as the term is normally understood. (I forget the claimed date of the 'world's first novel': wasn't it 10th C. Japan, or thereabouts and thenabouts?) There's a whole baggage of conventions in storytelling, and we take so many of them for granted it's hard to appreciate their lack, if half-4 in the morning isn't making my postmaking skills bad enough to obscure my point.
> The whole notion of a
> (Icelandic or Orlanthi) saga is just another form of written down myth. And
> I think that Orlanthi culture is literate enough for written literature to
> exist.
Literate enough, possibly, but I'm certain they don't. (When my players found out their 'keywords' didn't include literacy, slightly to my surprise none bothered to add it, and indeed, proceeded to taunt me (wance myur...) about not paying attention to exoticly-spelt NPC names...) Myths aren't written down, because they're sacred; non-myth isn't written down as it's trivial, or non-existant (most other forms of storytelling).
> After all, one of their chief gods has temples that are essentially
> modern libraries.
At least semi-Gregged, one suspects. (Or at least, 'de-emphasised', outside the larger cities, in favour of the Lawspeaker model.) I'm sure the Tales model of what they write about is sadly accurate: scrawling abuse at each other, for their ludicrous views and morally objectionable theories. (Remind anyone of anything?)
> Several people have suggest irresponsibility as a 'worst sin', and that
> makes some sense. Legends about Orlanthi heroes, then, ought to feature
> this idea prominently.
Rather the reverse: Orlanthi myths aren't Greek tragedies (literally or proverbially), and are much more usually examplars than cautionary tales. Thus, I'm sure The One Type of Story among the Heortlings is, "How Our Hero did something spectacularly idiotic, took responsibility, and fixed it." I don't doubt they have cautionary tales, and stories to frighten the children, but if they have a dominant form, that's my nomination for it.
Cheers,
Alex.
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